Until Then
by nky22
Summary: takes place in season 8. Chandler goes off to war. How will the rest of the friends, especially Monica, cope with his absense?
1. Chapter 1

_This is just the short prologue to the story. Next chapter will be longer. Tell me what you think, okay?_

* * *

September 11, 2001. Tuesday.

Chandler, Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, and Monica were sitting in the living room in apartment 20 all watching the television.

Chandler looked at his wife who had started to cry. He sat next to her on the couch and Monica instantly melted into him, her tears staining his shirt. Chandler stroked her hair softly as a feeling of weakness spread through him. A few tears slipped from his eyes.

Ross and Rachel found themselves in each other's arms without meaning to be there. Ross was breathing in Rachel's scent, slightly comforted by something familiar. Rachel sniffled as her tears started to flow.

Phoebe was strumming quietly on her guitar, getting out her feelings without having to say any words. Joey's head was on her shoulder as he watched the television that was showing America's horrible reality.

No one had spoken. They didn't know how to speak anymore.

*~*


	2. October

October 2, 2001. Tuesday.

Chandler looked at his wife for what could have been the last time. She had dozed off on the couch during the movie and now the movie was over. Chandler tried to memorize everything about Monica before he had to leave the next day. As he was looking at her, Monica woke up with tears in her eyes. She looked at Chandler and saw him gazing at her too.

Monica had to say these words. "Chandler?" Monica reached out her hand. "I love you."

Chandler took Monica's hand immediately. He moved to sit next to her on the couch. They looked at each other silently. After a few moments, Monica started to lean towards Chandler slightly. Chandler softly grabbed her face and gave her one slow kiss. Not patient enough to walk over to the bedroom, the couple stayed on the couch. Despite wanting each other that second, they went slow. Both _needing_ to be with each other for as long as possible.

* * *

October 3, 2001. Wednesday.

Chandler boarded the small aircraft filled with a dozen more men. Everyone looked the same in their uniform. Chandler wondered if he would ever be recognizable in the sea of men that all blended in with each other.

_Chandler turned around to run back to his wife for one last kiss. He grabbed Monica's hand, spinning her around to face him._

"_Chandler." Monica could only make her self say his name, nothing more._

_Chandler pushed her hair back from her face. "I'll see you in six months." _

_Chandler then kissed Monica passionately, both of them losing their balance. _

_Monica then broke the kiss that could be their last. "I love you, Chandler."_

"_I love you, too, Monica."_

Chandler's heart started to break when he thought about their last moment together. He wondered if he would, in fact, see her in six months.

~.~

Monica, Rachel, Joey, and Ross were stuffed inside of Phoebe's grandmother's old cab. Monica was in the middle of Rachel and Phoebe in the front seat. Ross and Joey were sitting in the back.

Rachel kept looking down at her stomach while Monica's head was lying on her shoulder. Ross's hand was on Monica's shoulder and Joey was fiddling with Monica's hair. Phoebe's hand was on Monica's hand.

Everyone wanted to comfort Monica and Monica knew it. "Thank you."

~.~

That night, Rachel showed up at Ross's apartment with news she had to tell him. Ross obviously thought she was there for another reason.

"Listen, Rachel. I know that night we had a few weeks ago was wonderful but I don't think it is right for us to get back together right now."

Rachel sighed. "What?"

Ross continued babbling. "I'm sorry. It's just that this whole Ross and Rachel love saga is kind of exhausting and…"

Rachel decided she needed to cut Ross off. "Ross! I… am pregnant."

Ross stared at Rachel, his whole body frozen with shock.

"And you're the father, by the way, but you got that."

Several minutes later, Ross hesitantly reached out his hand to touch Rachel's stomach. Rachel glanced up at him when she saw the look of delightful surprise on his face. Rachel smiled when Ross looked up at her.

Ross then kissed Rachel and pictures of them with a baby flooded his mind.

Rachel cleared her throat after their short kiss. "Now, I want you to be as involved as you want to be."

"With our baby? Our baby?"

Rachel nodded. "Yeah."

Ross and Rachel looked at each other, unsure of where to go from here.

* * *

October 9, 2001. Tuesday.

Monica was cooking breakfast for herself when Rachel and Joey walked into the apartment. Monica took one glance at them then added a few more eggs to her pan.

Joey sat down at the kitchen table. "I can not believe that Chandler hasn't called."

Monica rolled her eyes. "Joey, he's at war. I'm pretty sure he won't be calling as much as we'd want. I haven't even spoken to him yet."  
Rachel joined Joey at the table. "Yeah, Joey. Monica's right and besides, Monica has barely spoken to us in the last week."

Monica turned around, holding a spatula. "Oh, poor you, Rachel. My husband is at war and I miss him a lot but here, let me paint you some sunshine to brighten up your day. You're already pregnant with a bundle of joy anyway, why do you need me?"  
Rachel looked at her friend with hurt in her eyes. "What?"

"I don't know." Monica started to cry so Rachel went to hold and console her.

Rachel patted her back repeatedly. "It's okay, Monica. I'm sure he'll be fine. Even though it is, well, you know, _Chandler_." Rachel felt Monica tense up a little. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

Joey went to join the hug. "Yeah. And can't you email him?"

Monica sniffled. "No. He doesn't have internet access."

"Well, can he call?" Rachel asked.

Monica smiled a sad-happy smile. "Once a month. We planned for him to call on October 22nd so I'm making sure I don't have any plans that day. Anyway, do you want any eggs?"

Joey replied very enthusiastically. "Sure!"

~.~

Later that night, Monica was sitting on the couch when Rachel walked in with Phoebe.

"What are you doing here?" Monica asked.

Phoebe pulled out a grocery bag from behind her back. "We brought you some ice cream and a lot of movies."  
"Why?"

Rachel jumped up and clapped her hands. "We're throwing you a slumber party!"

Monica smiled at her two best friends. "I'll get the popcorn."

Rachel and Phoebe smiled as Monica went to pop the popcorn. Rachel ran over to put the DVD in as Phoebe got the bowls and spoons for the ice cream.

* * *

October 22, 2001. Monday.

Ross, Joey, Rachel, and Phoebe were sitting in Monica's living room when the phone rang. Joey jumped up to answer it. Chandler?"

Chandler's mood was instantly brightened. "Hey, Joe!"

Joey jumped up. "Monica! It's him!"

Monica ran out of her room and grabbed the phone. "Chandler, oh my god! You're still alive!"

Chandler laughed. "I know. You're husband has lasted almost twenty days. I miss you."

Monica sighed. "I miss you, too. Hey, Ross wants to talk to you."

Ross took the phone from Monica's hands and started walking towards Rachel. "Hey, Chan! Rachel and I want to tell you something."

Ross held the phone out for Rachel to speak. "I'm pregnant and you are talking to the father of my child!"

Chandler, on the other end of the line, started laughing. "Hey, that's great. Congratulations you two."

Ross was about to thank Chandler when Phoebe took the phone from him. "I know. Isn't this great? So, Chandler, have you met any hot soldiers for me?"

"Oh my god, Pheebs. Like you wouldn't believe."

Phoebe started to laugh and Chandler blushed.

Chandler cleared his throat. "Can you, uh, put Monica on the phone please?"

"Sure."

Phoebe handed the phone over to Monica. "Hey, again. Listen, I think it's really great that you're doing this, Chandler."

Chandler felt a surge of pride rush through him. "Thanks, Mon. I miss you so much."

"I miss you, too. And Chandler?"

"Yeah?"

Monica sighed. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Monica was about to say goodbye when a thought came to her. "So… I'll talk to you on Thanksgiving?"

Chandler nodded until he realized Monica couldn't see him. "Yeah. Bye." Chandler quickly hung up the phone.

Monica heard the line go dead. "Bye, Chandler."

* * *

_Monica sees Chandler walk through the door of the apartment wearing his uniform. Chandler rushes to her and kisses her._

_Monica's faced was flushed when they paused the kiss. "I missed you."_

_Chandler kissed Monica again. "I missed _you_."_

_Chandler goes back to kissing Monica. He then notices that she is wearing sheer lingerie. Monica falls back onto the bed that Chandler hadn't realized was behind her. Chandler joins her on the bed and, without knowing, the two are naked together. _

_Together. Finally together._

* * *

October 31, 2001. Wednesday.

Monica's Halloween party was in full swing. Rachel was talking with Joey while watching Ross talk to Mona, his girlfriend, out of the corner of her eye. Phoebe was flirting with a man dressed as the solar system. Monica was drinking her third drink that evening and was beginning to feel a little tipsy. The doorbell rang and Monica stumbled over to answer it.

"Trick or treat!" screams a little girl dressed as Dorothy from Wizards of Oz.

"Aww, you look so cute." Monica smiled and handed the little girl a handful of candy. She was about to close the door when a man's voice stopped her.

"Where is my treat?"

Monica looked up at the handsome man she had not seen in years. In her drunken state, Monica walked into the hallway and closed the apartment door behind her. "Hi, Richard."


	3. November

_Okay, so even though I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the ending of this story, I'm going to keep writing it to see where it goes. Reviews are deeply appreciated. Okay, you can read now. :)_

* * *

November 1, 2001. Thursday.

Rachel woke up from the Halloween party the night before thinking about Ross kissing Mona. Her mind then went to thinking about Ross kissing her. She wondered if Ross really wanted to be with Mona instead of her.

~.~

Monica was drinking a cup of coffee at the kitchen table. Memories of the night before were flooding her mind.

Monica remembered whispering into Richard's ear, telling him to sneak over later.

She remembered dressing up in a sexy tank top and a thong just for him.

She remembered Richard's lips on hers, kissing her like he used to.

Then the memory of them being fully naked with each other and almost having sex came to her. Monica had started to cry and sent him away.

_Monica grabbed a sheet off the bed and wrapped it around her. "Richard you need to go. Don't try to call me. I just think we should stay far away from each other for now on. This was a horrible, horrible idea. You should have stopped me! No, I should have stopped me. Just, please, leave._

_Richard gathered up his clothes and got dressed quickly. Once he was dressed, he started walking towards the door. Monica joined him._

"_Alright. Well, bye, Monica."_

_Monica looked down. "Goodbye, Richard."_

Monica looked at the ring on her left hand. The jewels were sparkling at her as if to ask why she would even risk losing the one man who she's ever felt truly herself with. She was drunk. People do stupid things when they're drunk all the time. Still, Monica never thought she would be the person to do something so stupid. Monica sipped her coffee quietly, drowning into her own personal pool of guilt.

* * *

November 8, 2001. Thursday.

Ross walked into Joey and Rachel's apartment to see Rachel sitting at the kitchen counter. She was looking in the newspaper for available apartments.

"Hey, Rach," Ross said. "Are you, uh, looking for another apartment?"

Rachel looked up at Ross. "Well, yeah. With this baby on the way, I want to have a good apartment, you know. An apartment where my baby won't have to see random girls every morning."

Ross started to laugh then a thought came to him. "Well, you know, there is a vacancy in my building."

"Really?"

Ross nodded. "Yeah. I, uh, have a spare bedroom. This is also _our_ baby."

Rachel put her hands on her hips and sat up a little straighter. "Don't you think that will be weird?"

"No. Why would it be? We'll make it work. Rach, please. With Carol I wasn't there during the pregnancy as much as I wanted to be. But this, this is our baby. Please, Rachel."

Rachel took Ross's hand in hers and took a deep breath. "Okay."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Ross jumped up and took Rachel into a giant hug when Joey walked in.

Joey saw the two hugging. "Hey, what's going on with you two?"

Rachel took herself out of Ross's arms. She went to stand by Joey. "Joey, you know I love living with you but with the baby coming and everything I don't want to affect your life like that. So… I'm moving in with Ross."

Joey threw his hands up. "What? Why?"

"Well," Rachel murmured as she looked toward Ross.

Ross saw Rachel's desperate "help me" look and jumped in. "Because, Joey, this is our baby and we both think it makes more sense for us to be living together."

Joey looked at both Ross and Rachel. "Oh, okay. When are you moving out?"

Rachel looked toward Ross again. "Saturday?"

Ross nodded. "Sure."

Joey took both Rachel and Ross into a hug. "Congratulations." Ross and Rachel smiled at each other.

* * *

November 15, 2001. Thursday.

Monica was walking around Central Park while looking at the trees. She was thinking about all of her memories with Chandler.

She thought about their first kiss. She had been so drunk then and Chandler had been all too willing. She had kissed him and something electric sparked. Monica had been kissing one of her best friends but it didn't feel gross. It felt like something she should have started doing a long time ago.

Monica's mind then went to her first kiss with Richard. Who would have ever thought that Monica would kiss Dr. Burke, the man she had known her whole life? Who would ever think they'd fall in love? No one ever thought that, but they did. Monica remembered the surprising tension between them. She then remembered the even more surprising flow of chemistry between them as they kissed.

Monica collapsed onto the grass beneath a tree. She lay there for hours, memories of the two main men in her life rushing through her mind.

November 18, 2001. Sunday.

Ross walked into Rachel's room with a tray of cereal and a blueberry muffin. He sat it down quietly on Rachel's nightstand then tried to tiptoe out of her room.

Rachel rubbed her eyes then saw Ross walking away. "Ross? Can you sit with me?"

Ross turned around and walked over to her. He sat next to Rachel on her bed.

Rachel sat up. "Thank you for supporting me right now. It means a lot to me."

"Thank you for, uh, letting me."

Ross put his hands on Rachel's stomach then let his eyes wander all over her body. Rachel's blush deepened when Ross finally looked into her eyes.

Time stopped.

Their breathing quickened.

Their eyes froze in a stare.

Then Ross kissed her. Rachel leaned back onto her bed, pulling Ross on top of her. They were kissing each other when they heard someone stomp their foot. Ross quickly got off Rachel but Rachel stayed frozen in the sheets.

"Mona?" Ross ran out of the room while Rachel lay on her bed, breathless.

* * *

November 22, 2001. Thursday.

Monica was cooking the Thanksgiving dinner while Phoebe helped with the mashed potatoes. Joey was sitting on the couch watching the football game. Ross and Rachel walked into the apartment together, still feeling awkward about that Sunday morning.

Monica glanced up and looked at Rachel. "Hey, Rach, do you remember Will from high school?"

Rachel looked up in deep concentration. "Um, I don't know. Was he the guy who was in Ross's club or whatever it was?"

Ross immediately joined into the conversation. "No, no. There was no club. We were just good friends."

Monica rolls her eyes. "Anyway, I asked because he's coming here today for Thanksgiving dinner."

Ross smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah. I ran into him at the grocery store yesterday. He's lost a ton of weight after being on this diet for years. Trust me, Rachel, after today, you'll remember him."

Rachel smiled. "Alright, then."

Minutes later, Will walked into the apartment. He walked right past Rachel to hug Monica and shake hands with Ross.

Monica turned around from her cooking and clapped her hands once. "Everyone, this is Will. Will, this is everyone. That's Phoebe, Joey, and Rachel. You remember her from high school, don't you?"

Will nodded with a strange expression in his eyes that Rachel didn't notice.

~.~

During dinner, Rachel took one whiff of the turkey and ran out of the apartment to Joey's where the poultry smell couldn't reach her. Ross quickly followed to hold back her hair.

Phoebe looked around at the food on the table. "Monica, where are the mashed potatoes I helped make?"

Monica put down her fork. "I gave them to Joey to store in his oven so he could keep them warm."

Joey's eyes widened. "Oh yeah. I probably should have warmed the oven…"

Joey got up and Phoebe followed him. There was a strong possibility that Joey had eaten them.

Monica smiled at Will as he reached for the peas. He had really gotten in shape since high school.

Will noticed Monica smiling at him but didn't mention it. He instead went to another topic of conversation. "That's a nice wedding ring."

Monica looked down at her left hand. "Thanks."

"Where's your husband?"

Monica looked toward the balcony. Something she often did when she thought about Chandler. It reminded her of the many times he asked to go on the balcony. Monica then forced her attention back to Will before she could start tearing up. "He's, uh, fighting in the war."

Monica sniffled and wiped away a tear threatening to fall from her eye. Will noticed the change in Monica's mood and took her hand. "That must be really hard for you. You must miss him a lot."

Monica looked at her hand then at Will's intense gaze. "It is."

Will then slid closer to Monica knowing something very important about vulnerable women. They were often lonely. "How long has he been stationed?"

Monica leaned back a little. "Almost two months."

"Oh." Will leaned into Monica a little more when the phone rang. Monica immediately jumped up out of her chair and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

Chandler's voice rang out from the other end of the phone. "Hey, Mon! I guess I should say Happy Thanksgiving!"

Monica's heart almost burst out of her chest when she heard Chandler's usual complaining over the pioneer holiday. "Yeah, Happy Thanksgiving."

Will looked up at Monica. "Who's Chandler?"

Monica tried to cover the mouthpiece of the phone. "Chandler's my husband."

Chandler furrowed his eyebrows when he heard Monica. Didn't he know everyone she knew? "Who's with you over there, Mon?"

Monica's eyes widened when she heard his jealous tone. "Um, Will. He went to high school with Ross and I. Ross probably mentioned him to you in college."

Chandler couldn't recollect anything about Will. "Are you two alone?"

"Yes but-"

"Where's everyone else?"

Monica sighed. "Rachel got sick so Ross is with her at Joey's. Phoebe and Joey are also there warming up some potatoes."

Chandler scratched his head. "Uh huh, okay. So is Will, like, your date for this evening?"

"What? No. I ran into him at the store yesterday and he told me he had nowhere to go so I invited him here. That's all, Chandler. Really."  
"Okay, fine. I love you."

Monica's voice softened. "I love you, too. Are you gonna call on Christmas Eve?"

Chandler nodded, a habit of his to do over the phone. "Yeah. Tell the guys I said hi."  
"I will. Bye."

"Bye." Chandler hung up the phone, not fully convinced about Will.

* * *

November 23, 2001. Friday.

Rachel knocked on Ross's bedroom door early in the morning.

"Come in," Ross said.

Rachel opened the door then walked over to Ross. She sat down on his bed and cleared her throat. "How have you been? You know, since you and Mona?"

Ross sat up. "I've been okay. She isn't the first girl I've broken up with because of you."

Rachel crossed her arms. "What?"

Ross exhaled. "Julie, Bonnie…"

Rachel giggled nervously. "Oh."

The two sat in awkward silence until Rachel couldn't take it anymore. "And, you know, we ended up getting together two of those three times. We could try to go for the perfect record."

Ross looked at Rachel questioningly. Rachel blinked back.

"Well," Rachel said.

Ross continued to think of pros and cons. Rachel bit her lip.

*_to be continued_


End file.
